Gong bath, a sacred sound journey of deep meditation with gongs and percussion with the help of sound frequency of 432 HZ is found to be healing mentally and physically
BHARATI PAWASKAR
She plays from the heart with a focused intent for every session and intent plus frequency always create healing. Claiming that the gongs hang drum and other percussion instruments play us, we don’t play them, Manavi Thakkar believes that this is an intuitive from the heart concert! “The journey with sound is endless and each one resonates differently and rides a different wave. I encourage each one to ride their own wave and find their own resonance with the universe,” she maintains.
It all began with a sound, is what is generally believed when one speaks of the universe. The universe started from sound. Sound realigns our body, de-stresses us and changes the vibration at a sub-molecular level. At Manavi’s gong bath healing sessions, all one has to do is to sit or lie down comfortably with eyes closed. The ancient sound of the gongs guides you to an inner journey and you emerge feeling lighter in a more positive space. The sound finds its way to any body aches or pains and heals and calms you down.
“What is being played is not written music. It is music from the heart. So, I urge you to just hold a space around you and absorb the sound. It’s a mending type of acoustical phenomena,” explains Manavi, adding further, “A Gong bath bridges all cultures through a musical resonance. The sound of the gong makes you feel electricity within your soul. It brings holistic resonance and functional harmony. It’s like getting eight hours of rest in a 50-min session. It’s a deeply restful meditative state that this frequency makes us fall into and we release toxins and come out refreshed.”
The performance is an over tonal chaos similar to that found in the four resonant cavities of the heart. Living tones of sound can only be felt in the heart. Admitting that they are not musicians but just simple folks playing from the heart, Manavi quips, “The tone that is being played must regenerate to be alive to be more resonant. What we want today is for you to resonate fully with the whole body to the tones you will hear. Only when we resonate fully does the whole brain function and we can feel peace.”
Besides sound, Manavi has studied Ayurveda, Yoga, Oceanography Craniosacral balancing, and Acupuncture. She ran her own dive school for 13 years in the Andaman Islands and worked with National Institute of Oceanography in Goa on Lord Krishna’s underwater city Dwarka in Gujarat. She runs an art extension program for four-year-old kids where they paint large scale canvases for hospitals and other public spaces. “Art and the sound of gongs are my soul,” smiles Manavi. But what she likes the most is painting walls, canvases, and making music with whatever comes in her hands - plastic bottles, xylophones, even paper.
Manavi did her Gong Master training with Don Conreaux in 2011. A part of the sonic wave for a decade, Manavi had gonged with Don and 193 players at the Olympia in Kensington, London in November 2018 as part of the feat to enter Guinness Book of World Records. Playing along with that many musicians around her, Manavi could experience not the sound, but only the silence. “It was as if I was not hearing any noise or sound. It was just a peaceful silence. And that’s when I decided to give my entire life to sonic wave and take it to India. I wanted to do this full time and with my Guru Don’s blessings I wanted to introduce this mode of experiencing absolute peace in the mind and body to the world and especially to the people of India. That’s why I am here – to spread peace through healing,” she concludes.
Gong has been a significant part of Asian culture since ancient times, and some sources suggest that its origins can be traced back to 2000 BC. Chinese tradition says that the instrument originated in areas that are today between Myanmar and Tibet. By the 9th century, gongs had spread to Java and other islands of the Malay archipelago. The name ‘gong’ in fact comes from Java, which became one of four major centres of Asian gong production, along with Myanmar, China. Even today, Gongs are considered to be symbols of mysticism and good fortune in Asian cultures, and their sound is considered healing.
Gong bathing and sound bathing harness the resonance and meditative effect of gongs, singing bowls, tuning forks and/or other instruments that are rich in “harmonic frequencies” to help you to calm down.
Event: 432 Sacred sound journey with gongs and percussion
Date: February 9-10,
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Venue: Saraya, House no. 64, Chogm road, Sangolda Bardez
Contact: 8888926811
